Averland Adventures: The Blue Reach Delta

A Big Adventure in a Small Out-of-the-Way Area

Legwork

10

JUL/13

To: Berholt Eisenhauser, Captain, Imperial Roadwardens

From: Pieter Konrad

Bernholt,

Axel informed me that he had submitted a report on my behalf. I’m sorry about that. He was so pleased with himself I just didn’t have the heart to get mad at him. Nothing is quite as pathetic as an emotionally crushed halfling, although actually crushed would seem to have its benefits at certain times…

In any event, after we had recuperated somewhat from the events of the rookery, we began to go through the reams of evidence that we had collected. We started by culling names that warranted a closer look based on the research being done by the cult. Anyone they found interesting, we were certainly interested in. We engaged the help of the Countess who filled us in on who these people were and what their positions in the city were.

We decided our first visit would be to Randalf Vogt, an ex-Marshal of the city who had been discharged by Emmanuelle upon her ascension to power. We got directions to his house and showed up at his door. We were told that he would be back in three hours, so we split up and staked out both of the exits to his house to see if our unannounced visit had shaken something loose. After three uneventful hours, nothing much had happened beyond a young man watching us watch the house from an upper floor window.

Finally, Randalf arrived. We introduced ourselves and after being singularly underwhelmed by meeting us, we began to get some information about his past duties in the city of Nuln. Of particular interest was his involvement in weapon development during the Storm of Chaos. His failure to produce the weapon on time and on budget, in spite of the rampant graft and general incompetence of the city’s bureaucracy, was the largest contributing factor to his fall from grace as the Marshal of Nuln. My feeling is that while bitter and resentful, he remains loyal to the city.

His opinions of the new Marshal on Nuln were likewise enlightening as he considers Wolfhart to be a sniveling sycophant who says the right things to the right people, but who is utterly clueless as to what the job actually entails. With his background in weapons design, we decided to let him take a look at the plans we had discovered for the suitcase bomb. He was impressed and made the comment that the designer was very talented and that this device would make quite a bang. We thanked him for his time and moved on to the next name on the list as we all figured that he had no involvement in any of the cult activity happening in Nuln.

Our next stop was the university to talk to the Dean, Agnet Krebs. After a short wait, we were ushered into her office. She was a very attractive mature woman who greeted us warmly as we sat down to discuss the reasons for our visit. We spent a significant time discussing her background and asking her impressions of some of the people that were on our list, as she had contact with most of them due to her position at the university. She couldn’t think of anyone that she knew who was acting oddly or that she felt strange around. I found it interesting that she recognized the name Vehnyk and we asked her to see if she could remember where she had come across the name. We also put her and archivists to work researching “The Blood of the Binder” to see if they could find out exactly what that was and what it was likely to be used for. My answer for both questions is “something nasty”, but I guess we need to be a little more specific. We made our farewells and moved onto our next name. She was a nice lady, but she seemed a little too predatory for my liking.

Katarina Bronn had been described in the notes as an Altdorf noble in Nuln seeking a husband. We went to the home she was staying at and waited for her to meet with us. Katarina turned out to be a very young and stunningly beautiful young woman. She was very intelligent and well-spoken and painfully aware of the dangers that surround the nobility. She was concerned about being a person of interest with the Cults operating in Nuln and assured us that she would take every precaution she could. As we left, I passed on a warning to her head bodyguard. He again assured us that he had sufficient manpower to ensure the young lady’s safety and that he was aware of the dangers in Nuln. That being said, I noticed that a meaningful glance was passed between Katarina and her security head as we exited the building.

After a short stop to put an end to Adam’s incredibly loud belly growls, we headed out to visit Otwin Herzog. His position as a former advisor on the small council of the previous elector count made him a powerful and influential person in Nuln. When we got to his estate, we found both of the gates locked, the lights off, and no guards. “Too quiet”, said Dolwen. Axel muttered about a Captain something as he twitched the lock open. He’s getting a little too proficient at this kind of thing – it’s probably just as well I’m not a roadwarden any longer.

We cautiously approached the manor house. Axel crept up to the door and managed to massage it open as well. As he opened the door and we stepped in, the first thing we noticed was the smell of decay wafting throughout the entire area. Dolwen waved us forward and we started out search in the kitchen at Adam’s insistence. I think his appetite diminished, as in the light of Ekhart’s staff, we found evidence of two murders, prolific blood spatters, and bloody footprints leading out the door.

A thorough search of the house yielded five more murder scenes with similar evidence – spatters of blood from the attack, blood pooling from where a dead body lay, and bloody footprints in the room. Ekhart managed to pick up faint traces of necromantic magic. We proceeded to search the outbuildings and found more of the same – two murder scenes in the caretaker’s house and two dead horses in the stables. Ekhart theorized that someone had killed the first victim and then raised them as some kind of undead. He then used them to slay everyone in the house. I can only imagine the horror of being attacked by monsters that wear the forms of those you love and fearing that you will end up sharing their fate. We cannot find the monstrous individuals behind this soon enough for my liking.

We left the estate to report these grisly murders to Countess Emmanuelle. She wasn’t at the palace, but was attending a party off the grounds. We got directions and proceeded there with all haste. We managed to make our urgency plain to the guards at the party residence, and after a small delay, were granted an audience with the countess. We filled her in on the details and asked her if it would be possible to talk to people that knew the Herzog family so we could determine how many people lived in the house. It was confirmed that there were five residents and four servants living at the estate by both Lords Albrecht and Rothjager. They both appeared very surprised at the news of the demise of the Herzog family.

Emmanuelle had someone bring the watch captain to her. We got some food while we waited and when the captain arrived, we escorted him to the estate. We walked him through, explaining what we had seen and what conclusions we had reached. We went back to the party to report to Emmanuelle. Lord Albrecht was shaken and furious at the deaths of people that he had known so well. He told us to find who was responsible, and bring them to justice. A task for which we would be richly rewarded.

We made our way back to the palace, trying to think of what our next step would be. I think it was Axel who remembered that the only other place that bodies were disappearing was Shantytown. We decided it made sense to investigate there next and made plans to go the next morning.

That’s all for now Bernholt. I’ll keep filling you in as circumstances permit. As always, may Sigmar guide you and keep you well.